Thursday, July 30, 2015

Margalit asserted that Muslims at the holy site do not object to Jewish visitors, but rather to right-wing Jews, “who come up with a political agenda.

“When I was there, I was treated respectfully,” the Jewish councilman said of his numerous visits at the invitation of the Wakf Islamic religious trust, which oversees the compound for the Jordanian government. “They gave me coffee and sweets.”

Yes, they do object to Jewish visitors who seek to identify as Jews rather than identity-less Jews.Yes, of course Margalit was treated respectfully as he came with his own anti-Temple Mount political agenda.Yes, there are Jews who are not "right-wing" (Margalit is left-wing) who do have a Jewish interest in the site's history, archaeology, cultural and religious past (and present and perhaps, future). And they, too, if they display an overt interest in what is there will not be tolerated.Yes, Christians who display biblical interest as well as New Testament interest will not be tolerated.I could go on but I presume you grasp the idiocy of Margalit's approach.^

In 1933 in response to Adolf Hitler's rise to power, Catt organized the Protest Committee of Non-Jewish Women Against the Persecution of Jews in Germany.The group sent a letter of protest to Hitler in August 1933 signed by 9,000 non-Jewish American women.It decried acts of violence and restrictive laws against German Jews. Catt pressured the U.S. government to ease immigration laws so that Jews could more easily take refuge in America. For her efforts, she became the first woman to receive the American Hebrew Medal.

Sheikh Hussam Abu Leil, Second Vice-President of the Islamic movement in the Palestinian territories said that there was "a secret agreement between the Israeli occupation, and among some Arab leaders, to allow Jews to pray at the Al Aqsa Mosque"

Somehow, I would really like to belive him but I'll go with Islamist Illusion. ^

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

An Israeli milk company may be sidestepping EU restrictions on dairy imports from Jewish-only settlements in the occupied West Bank.

New research demonstrates that Tnuva, a leading Israeli food firm, is processing milk from settlements that violate international law.

Who Profits?, a group monitoring the occupation, has filmed trucks collecting milk from the West Bank and bringing it to a Tnuva factory in Rehovot, a city inside present-day Israel...Who Profits? filmed Tnuva’s trucks bringing milks from three settlements in the West Bank to Rehovot earlier this month. Similar videos were filmed in September and October last year — a few months before the EU’s rules came into effect.

The evidence indicates that Tnuva is continuing to behave in an illegal manner, despite the EU’s rules. Under the 1907 Hague regulations — a cornerstone of international humanitarian law — it is forbidden for an occupying power to exploit the land and resources of the territory it occupies for commercial purposes.

Who Profits? has listed four Israeli settlements in the West Bank that are known to provide raw materials to Tnuva. The settlements are named Carmel Maon, Beit Yatir, Migdal Oz and Rosh Tzurim.

But Migdal Oz and Rosh Tzurim were established prior to 1948 so they cannot be post-1967 occupied and in fact, point to Arab crime of ethnic cleansing.^

...the founder of what is called Israel, David Ben-Gurion, said, "there is no value for the Jews without Israel, nor the value of Israel without Jerusalem, nor the value of Jerusalem without the Temple" and the Zionists are trying to obliterate the Islamic identity landmarks of Jerusalem; and there is a dirty campaign in the Judaization of Jerusalem

So, Raad Salah declared what he declared based not on his belief but what he was given to understand was Ben-Gurion's belief.But did B-G say that?I checked here but no. Here, I found this:

“There can be Jerusalem without Israel, but there cannot be Israel without Jerusalem”

The search is to be continued... But I think it's a (purposeful) misquote.________________Continuing...Found this from David Ben-Gurion:

The attempt to exclude Jewish Jerusalem from Israel is not calculated to establish peace in the Near East, and least of all in Jerusalem itself. Jews will sacrifice themselves for Jerusalem no less than Englishmen for London, Russians for Moscow, or Americans for Washington...We hope that those religions which respect the sanctity of Jerusalem and those nations which, like us, believe in the principles of peace and justice will respect the rights of Israel in Jerusalem just as Israel respects the rights of all religions in its holy capital and in its sovereign State.

Jerusalem police received intelligence on Arab youths, who cloistered themselves on Saturday night inside of Temple Mount’s Al-Aksa Mosque. The young terrorists gathered rocks, planks of wood and firecrackers, even making Molotov cocktails inside of the mosque’s walls, in an attempt to plan an attack against police forces and disrupt Jewish visits to Temple Mount on Tisha B'Av.

Jerusalem District Police received information that some youths had barricaded themselves inside the mosque overnight and collected stones, planks, and Molotov cocktails with the purpose of altercating with police and disturbing the visits of Jews arriving at the Temple Mount complex for Tisha B'Av prayers. Tisha B'Av is an annual fast day commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem.

The youths, some of whom wore face masks, created barricades to prevent the door into the mosque from being closed using shoe racks, iron rods, and ropes.

When a police team approached the mosque, the youths threw stones and launched fireworks. Police and border guard forces directed by Jerusalem District Police Commander Moshe Edri entered the complex as the rioters escaped into the mosque and threw dozens of stones and concrete blocks.

Police began to remove the barricades placed at the entrance to the mosque, while some were wounded by the stones and fireworks. They managed to force their way in and shut the mosque.

And you believe Arab sources?___________________-P.S.And now AP has it right, too.^

QUESTION: They [bipartisan skeptics from Congress] seem to remain unconvinced. What is your battle plan, sir, and are you going to bring anything new – any new arguments – so you can defend the deal?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, I’m going to tell the truth about the deal. There are many people who frankly – some of them had opposed it before they even read it. I mean, many of them admitted they hadn’t read the deal when they started opposing it. Some people just oppose the idea of doing a deal with Iran. But I think when people really look at what is gained here, when they see that this is a possibility of actually doing away with a potential of a nuclear weapon, and that perhaps opening up the possibilities of other good things happening, of a new relationship, I think people will see the benefit of it.

Obviously, there is a very powerful group of voices who are opposed to it, who spend a lot of money in opposition to it, and that’s been heard. But I believe – I’m glad we have the 60 days. I think it will give time for people to really reflect and see that if you don’t let this agreement go forward, you could be choosing conflict and war. That could be the alternative. Because if we don’t have this agreement, then I believe the Ayatollah would say, “Why should I negotiate with these guys? They haven’t delivered. They don’t do it.” Why would our colleagues in the world support the sanctions when they say the sanctions were supposed to be to get an agreement, but they got one and now they’ve walked away? So the whole thing comes apart, with great danger to the region.

The Revenant is the new film of director Alejandro González Iñárritu, the Academy Award-winning director, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy, about a frontiersman who sets out for revenge after his fellow travelers leave him for dead after a bear mauling. From a synopsis of the book on which the film is based

BasedLoosely based on true eventson a true incident of heroism in the history of the American West...A Philadelphia-born adventurer, frontiersman Hugh Glass goes to sea at age 16 and enjoys a charmed life, including several years under the flag of the pirate Jean Lafitte...In 1822, at age 36, Glass escapes, finds his way to St. Louis and enters the employ of Capt. Andrew Henry, trapping along tributaries of the Missouri River. After surviving months of hardship and Indian attack, he falls victim to a grizzly bear. His throat nearly ripped out, scalp hanging loose and deep slashing wounds to his back, shoulder and thigh, Glass appears to be mortally wounded...Even though his death seems certain, Henry details two men, a fugitive mercenary, John Fitzgerald, and young Jim Bridger (who lived to become a frontier hero) to stand watch and bury him. After several days, Fitzgerald sights hostile Indians. Taking Glass's rifle and tossing Bridger his knife, Fitzgerald flees with Bridger, leaving Glass. Enraged at being left alone and defenseless, Glass survives against all odds and embarks on a 3,000-mile-long vengeful pursuit of his ignominious betrayers. Told in simple expository language, this is a spellbinding tale of heroism and obsessive retribution.

This should be grand. The word doesn't mean a literal ghost, as som claim, but someone thought gone who has come back, as I wrote. Just as we Jews, banned from our homeland, have returned. (kippa tip - Zalmi)^

A while ago, I blogged about the death by gunfire of the American Consul in Jerusalem in May 1948, Thomas Wasson.I have now come across this testimony in real time penned by Rev. Hugh Jones of Christ Church in Jerusalem as his official "Diary of Events" :-

MAY 22nd...The American Consul, a member of the Truce Commission, was severely
wounded after leaving the French Consulate where he had held a meeting
with other members of the Truce Commission. He was taken, together with
another member of the Consulate who was also severely wounded, to our
Hospital, which is now being staffed and run by the Hadassah.

MAY 23rd The American Consul and his companion both died of their wounds
and were buried in a convent next door to the Consulate on Monday by
Ronald Adeney. It was not possible for the American Chaplain, Dr. Klein,
to get from the Cathedral into the Jewish area to perform the ceremony.

A third American member of the Consulate staff, Thomas Gannon, a 'veteran guard', was injured that week as well when shot on the night of May 14/15th.Was Klein perhaps the sole chaplain, who served all the staff regardless of religion?To be continued...^

Thursday, July 16, 2015

More and more episodes occurred to give him reasons to dislike Jews. After Horst Wessel, a young Nazi stormtrooper who composed the hymn that subsequently became the second national anthem of Nazi Germany, was murdered in early 1930 by a communist in Berlin, it was a Jew who gave refuge to the murderers when they fled. This kind of thing will have undoubtedly had an effect of Goebbels. He would have chalked it up on his list of grudges.Even worse, after he began going out with Magda Quandt (whose stepfather, Friedländer, he knew had been Jewish), it happened that for days at a time she didn’t come to see him. After a while, she doesn’t answer the phone or keep dates, and eventually Goebbels finds out he has a rival: a Jew named Victor Arlosoroff, who is also enraged to find out that she’s two-timing him with the Nazi Gauleiter of Berlin. Arlosoroff is so enraged, in fact, that during one meeting he pulls out a revolver, and in a jealous, dramatic scene, fires at her, deliberately missing. The bullet buries itself in the wall near her. She gets him out of her life, although he keeps returning and pleading to be taken back.This man is none other than Victor Chaim Arlosoroff, who subsequently became an important Zionist figure. After Hitler came to power, he was the Zionist representative in the negotiations with the new Nazi government that resulted in the Haavara (“Transfer”) agreement, whereby German Jews could emigrate to Palestine with their property. In June 1933 Arlosoroff was murdered in Tel Aviv, Palestine, by members of the Jabotinsky faction of the Zionist movement. The fact that the love of his life was two-timing him with an ardent Zionist may also have contributed to Goebbels’ growing dislike of Jews.

In addition to the theories that people connected to the revisionist movement are the perpetrators of murder and that it was an intended sexual attack by two Arabs there are theories connecting it to the Soviet and Nazi regimes. One involves the Nazi leader Joseph Goebbels: During the first world war, Magda Behrend, who later became the wife of Joseph Goebbels, met and became close friends with Lisa Arlosoroff, Haim Arlosoroff's sister. The nature of her relationship with Haim Arlosoroff is unknown. Magda married Goebbels on 19 December 1931, with Adolf Hitler as a witness. A year and a half later, Arlosoroff went to Germany to negotiate the Ha'avarah (transfer) agreement with high Nazi officials. The theory is that with Haim Arlosoroff's personal involvement in the negotiations, Goebbels took notice of his wife's former Jewish friend and sought to erase what might have been an embarrassment for the Goebbelses. Magda's former Jewish stepfather, Richard Friedländer, was arrested on Goebbels orders and died in the concentration camp in 1938.

...by 1920, Magda had broken off all contact with Victor Arlosoroff (except for one phone call in 1933), and Arlosoroff had married and was living in Palestine by 1924. Mr. Arlosoroff was head of foreign affairs in the Jewish Agency and a leading figure in the formation of a Jewish Homeland in Palestine in 1930 and was in no way linked with Fri. Goebbels (then Fr. Quandt). She was involved with a young student, Erich, before and after her divorce from Herr Quandt, and it was this young man with whom she quarreled and who shot at her after hearing that she was in love with Joseph Goebbels...Please correct your book review. I am sure that Herr Meissner would be displeased to have been misquoted.Jeanne Moses Roland

Thursday, July 09, 2015

Jews lived in the hills of Judea and Samaria for over 3500 years, as nomads, as tribal chieftains and as kings, priests and prophets. They were dispersed once and returned. They were exiled and returned. Despite foreign conquerors, they persisted in returning under the most difficult of political, religious and economic conditions. Their civilization was created in the area as was their literature. Their three most important cities are there. The Torah and the New Testament use the terms Judea, Samaria and Gaza. The Quran records God’s command that the Jews should live in the Promised Land. Eighty years ago, the world recognized unabashedly and with no disagreement the right of Jews to reestablish their historic homeland as a political entity. And following a brief 19 year long hiatus, Jews are once again living there. This, then, may be the word we need to employ. One word, of course, does not a victory make. Terminology is never terminal. Nevertheless, a major part of Israel’s Hasbara problem, especially in the medium of the electronic media and in academic and other political forums is its lack of ability to create a neutral space for discourse. Once the term “occupied” is tossed out in any gathering, any adequate response forces the speaker to deal with eighty years of detailed history, intricacies of international law and the interpretation of this or that Convention.

Meaning: 1. Someone returning after a long absence. 2. Someone returning from the dead.

Notes: Today's Good Word is remarkable in its rarity. How commonly do we say, "Welcome, stranger" or (down South) "I haven't seen you in a coon's age" to someone we haven't seen in a long time? Well, everyone we say such things to is a revenant—especially if we thought they were dead.

This word is a lexical orphan, except it may be also be used as an adjective, as 'a revenant cousin'.

In Play: Rip Van Winkle, of course, is the most famous revenant, but then all ghosts are equally good revenants. The frequency of circumstances in which we meet revenants belies its rarity: "Family reunions are enjoyable for all the revenants you see." This word may be applied jokingly to someone who has missed work for several days: "Well, look who's decided to come to work: our old revenant, Charlie!"

Word History: Today's Good Word is another contribution by the French language. In French revenant is the present participle of revenir "to return". Revenue, that which is returned, is the feminine past participle of the same verb. This verb comprises re- "back, again" + venir "to come". Venir, believe it or not, goes back to the same source as English come: Proto-Indo-European gwe(m)- "to go, come". Greek bainein "to walk" shares the same origin.

Exchanges of ﬁre between Qatamon and the adjacent Jewish neighbourhoods soon became commonplace. On the night of 2 January, Jewish Lehi blew up a number of abandoned buildings west of Qatamon. The explosions caused panic in the neighborhood, and in their wake ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni, the commander of the irregular Arab forces in the Jerusalem area, paid his ﬁrst visit to Qatamon.According to some accounts, ‘Abd al-Qadir and his men met with the residents at the Hotel Semiramis, a small family establishment in the centre of the neighbourhood, and made plans to defend the area.36 [go left on Rehov Hahish, and descend to Rehov Mehalkei Hamayim. On the corner to your left stands a large, modern villa that replaced the Semiramis Hotel.]

The Haganah apparently got wind of the event through Shai, and this was one reason for the attack on the hotel on the night of 5 January. It was intended as retaliation against the Arabs for causing the ﬂight of Jews from Qatamon and other neighbourhoods.37

The Qatamon guard force received a report (perhaps a police warning) of an imminent attack on the neighbourhood. On the night of 5 January 1948 most of the force was sent to the neighbourhood’s northern boundary, opposite the Jewish neighbourhood Kiryat Shmuel, from where, they believed – rightly – the attack would originate. Seven guards were stationed on the roof of the Hotel Semiramis, which at three stories was one of the tallest buildings in the neighbourhood. However, the guards dispersed towards midnight due to a thunderstorm, believing that it ruled out the possibility of an attack that night. Shortly afterwards the Haganah force arrived at the hotel in two vehicles, blew it up, and withdrew without interference. The guards rushed out of their homes and opened ﬁre wildly, but to no effect.38

The explosion illuminated the sky above the neighbourhood for several minutes and shook the walls of houses hundreds of metres away. Frightened residents leaped out of bed and rushed to ﬁnd shelter in the bowels of their homes. Close to the site of the explosion some people went into shock.39

The hotel’s eastern wing collapsed; 18 people were killed and dozens wounded. Most of the dead were from two Arab Catholic families of Lorenzo and Abu Suwwan, the hotel’s co-owners. They had taken refuge in the hotel, believing it was safer than their homes in the Nikophoria Jewish-Arab neighbourhood.40

P.S. The Spanish vice-consul, Manuel Allende Salazar, was also killed in the attack.And this following development preceded Deir Yassin by three months:

the explosion brought about the ﬁrst wave of departure from Qatamon, which included Arabs, Armenians, and Greeks. The deep shock and fear are reﬂected in the correspondence between Albina and the District Commissioner...

Monday, July 06, 2015

Posted:Wednesday, July 7, 2015 - 10:00CAMPAIGN REGULATIONS UPDATED FOR NEW AWARDS SEASON

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Board of Governors has approved new Oscars rulesandcampaign regulationsfor the 88th Academy Awards at their most recent Board meeting (Tuesday night, 6/30). However, final determination of the qualifying nominees for each nominated picture will be made by the Academy’s Producers Branch Executive Committee.

The Academy has announcd that after extensive deliberations, including all of its 6000 members, films produced by Da'esh/IS/ISIL will be included as eligible films that will be initially shortlisted for further consideration in regular cateories and not only as foreign films.

Other amendments to the rules include standard date changes and other “housekeeping” adjustments.

Rules are reviewed annually by individual branch and category committees. The Awards Rules Committee then reviews all proposed changes before presenting its recommendations to the Board of Governors for approval.

Updated campaign regulations, which specify how companies and individuals may market to Academy members any movies and achievements eligible for the 88th Academy Awards, are also presented to the Board for approval.

The 88th Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, and will be televised live on the ABC Television Network at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. The Oscars also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

“It’s gratifying to acknowledge the extraordinary range of talent displayed in Iraq, Syria and Libya by these quite imaginative artists in our industry,” said Academy President Sheryl Bone Isaacs. “This year, our branches have recognized a more diverse and inclusive list of filmmakers and artists than ever before, and we look forward to adding their creativity, ideas and experience to our organization.”

Ms. Isaacs continued, saying "We seek to bring closer these foreign filmakers and cinema professionals with the hope that the common language of artistry will bridge cultural gaps. To accomplish this, we are opening these following categories to nominations of entries from Da'esh."

It is expected that the following catgories, initially, will be open to various Da'esh cinematographers for thir submissions:BEST PICTURECINEMATOGRAPHYCOSTUME DESIGNDIRECTINGFILM EDITINGMAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLINGSOUND EDITINGSOUND MIXINGVISUAL EFFECTSDOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)Media Contact:Natalie Kohennkohen@oscars.org

1 bed apartment rentals in NYC average about 750 square feet and cost 2700 per month. Most of the listings for one bedrooms are in Manhattan, where prices hover in the $3000 per month range. If you are looking to pay less per month for one bedroom apartments NYC look to Brooklyn ($2000), the Bronx ($1250), Queens ($1350) or Statan Island ($900).

I am not going to try to ascertain how much that 7 sq. m. plot at Migron goes for.And that plot?It's an antenna.

As part of the request of the cellular companies from the court to avoid the eviction of their antennas from the Palestinian lands in Migron, the Commander of the Central Command has issued a seizure order for one of the antennas for security purposes...On the 29th of June, the State informed the court that one of the antennas is being used also by the IDF, and is considered necessary for security needs, and therefore, the Commander of the Central Command had issued a seizure order for 73 sq.m. on which the antenna of Hot Mobile company was built. The land is seized for 6 months till mid December. Meanwhile they hope that the company will move the antenna to an alternative place. The other antennas, of companies Cellcom, Partner and Pelephone, were not part of the seizure order.

About Me

American born, my wife and I moved to Israel in 1970. We have lived at Shiloh together with our family since 1981. I was in the Betar youth movement in the US and UK. I have worked as a political aide to Members of Knesset and a Minister during 1981-1994, lectured at the Academy for National Studies 1977-1994, was director of Israel's Media Watch 1995-2000 and currently, I work at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem. I was a guest media columnist on media affairs for The Jerusalem Post, op-ed contributor to various journals and for six years had a weekly media show on Arutz 7 radio. I serve as an unofficial spokesperson for the Jewish Communities in Judea & Samaria.